Wednesday, november 28, 2012 canada’s only daily student newspaper • founded 1906 volume 106, Issue 48

thegazette

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todayhigh1low-5

tomorrowhigh3low-3

We’re all narcissists since 1906

Pi equals successLife of Pi enchants and delights audience.

>> pg. 5

New policy to seek end of weekend exams

aaron ZaltzmanNeWs editor

The weekend is a time for relaxing, catching up, doing work and—if you’re a Western student—the odd midterm. But the University Stu-dents’ Council is aiming to change this reality as it drafts a policy paper that would push the university to eliminate weekend exams.

“Generally, the sentiment is that we’re looking at alternative ways of examining students, aside from on weekends,” Alysha Li, vice-president university affairs for the USC, said. “Many students work on weekends to support their education, so week-end exams are just not convenient.”

According to Li, Western is one of, if not the only, university in Can-ada to hold exams on weekends. She said the USC is trying to work with the administration to at least scale back the amount of weekend exams, or exam timeslots, both dur-ing the midterm season, as well as the December and April finals. But it appears to be a daunting task.

“One of the important issues to consider is that we have multiple sections of a course and we need to find time where students from dif-ferent sections can all sit an exam at the same time,” John Doerksen, vice-provost academic for Western, explained. “The main times that students are going to be free are on

the weekends.“The other important change

over the years has been the move to having many more half-courses,” he explained. “The more half-courses, the greater the number of mid-term exams that are going to be scheduled.”

It’s also a problem for final exam times, where the amount of exams already causes overlap.

“We have to use every time slot that we’ve got to schedule exams and reduce conflict for students,” Doerksen said.

While the USC is adamant a change is in order, they, too, under-stand it requires a radical overhaul.

“The university scheduling sys-tem […] is not structured in a way

that we can easily get rid of week-end exams,” Li said. “We’re willing to work with the university on that, but the biggest pushback is that the way they schedule classes is a big obstacle.”

Li said she would entertain the idea of baby steps, such as only eliminating Sunday exams. Doerk-sen said the university is consider-ing all options.

“We’ve had an initial discussion about the various implications of our schedules, and the consider-ations that need to be taken into account,” Doerksen said. “At this point, I would say that we’re at a fairly early stage of trying to identify what the constraints are, what the considerations need to be.”

“We need to work through it carefully. Obviously, we need to make sure that the various aca-demic programs are able to imple-ment the kinds of evaluations that are appropriate to the disciplines,” Doerksen said.

Still, Li said it’s clear exam-free weekends are in reach, consider-ing it is the case at the majority of universities.

“A big part of the research is to look at how other institutions work, but Western is different in terms of how we’re scheduled,” Li said. “We understand it’s difficult for the uni-versity to schedule around class-room availability.”

USC working for the weekend

Corey Stanford Gazette

Five more years of Chakma-ty goodness

Jesica HurstNeWs editor

Western can’t get enough of Amit Chakma.

Even though the university’s president and vice-chancellor has completed only three years of his first term here, Western’s board of governors has already reappointed Chakma to a second five-year term. The term will begin on June 30, 2014 and end on June 30, 2019.

Stephen Coxford, board chair at Western, explained the decision was based on a long-standing and carefully prescribed review process.

“Since about 1995, there has been what is called a board proto-col that requires certain processes to be followed before making a rec-ommendation for reappointment,” Coxford said. “That includes strik-ing a committee of the board, which is the senior operations committee, so additional members of the board, and in this case rep-resentatives from faculty, staff and students.”

According to Coxford, the pro-cess began back in May or June, and continued over the course of the summer months. After the committee collected data and met on several occasions to review writ-ten or face-to-face submissions from stakeholders at Western, they presented a report to the board last Thursday.

“The product of [the review] was an enthusiastic endorsement of Dr. Chakma’s leadership [...], and after

discussion on an in-camera basis, the report of the committee was accepted, and the board enthusias-tically agreed to the reappointment of Dr. Chakma,” he said.

Although he didn’t necessarily suggest Chakma’s commitment to the internationalization of the uni-versity was the most important fac-tor tied to the reappointment, Cox-ford explained most stakeholders mentioned this point first.

He also said Chakma’s positive qualities were recognized when making the decision.

“I think people regard Dr. Chakma as an inspirational leader—he’s someone who leads by example and brings a large deal of commitment and integrity to the job.”

Even though Chakma was pleased to accept the board’s offer, he still has his mind on completing his first term.

“Although it is a reappointment, I am still continuing with my first term—it’s a five-year term, so I haven’t completed it yet,” Chakma said. “Having said that, what this does is allow one to focus on long-term activities and objectives—something like strategic planning.”

“Whether I was given a second term or not, whether I accepted it or not, I was already thinking long-term. All this does is gives me more time to do more things, its just a longer mandate to invest in these goals further.”

one of the important issues to consider is that we have multiple sec-tions of a course and we need to find time where students from different sections can all sit an exam at the same time.

—John doerksenVice-provost academic for Western

Julian Uzielli Gazette

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2 • thegazette • Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Crossword By Eugene sheffer

The Cryptoquip is a substitution cipher in which one letter stands for another. If you think that X equals O, it will equal O throughout the puzzle. Single letters, short words and words using an apostrophe give you clues to locating vowels. Solution is by trial and error.© 2002 by Kings Features Syndicate, Inc.

Caught on Camera

News Briefs

western launches ad campaign

Western has always prided itself on offering an exceptional student experience, and their new adver-tising campaign is set to promote this.

Dubbed ‘The Western Experi-ence,’ the new campaign has post-ers consisting of exotic locations, space and architecture with the in-tention of associating Western with the possibility of attaining these portrayals.

“Putting this much focus on the experience at Western is different than what we’ve done in the past,”

Terry Rice, director of marketing and creative services at Western, explained. “It’s a hard exercise. If you look at the broad spectrum of what Western does, and does well, it’s hard to select.”

The main placement for these ads will occur on transit systems in the Greater Toronto Area.

“We have some select subway stops, and then there are [subway] car ads and buses as well,” Rice ex-plained. “What we’ve tried to do is highlight the various aspects of the Western experience that is sort of special and unique, and put it on a subway car, or in a subway plat-

form. People will be able to grab it, and in five seconds know why Western is so special.”

Other nationally-targeted ad-vertising will be done through newspapers and media outlets like the Globe and Mail.

“We’re doing some quarter-page Globe and Mail ads, and we’re also on Globe and Mail online,” Rice said.

—Cam Smith

well-rounded students in greater demand

In the weeks leading up to the De-cember exam period, students are busily immersed in their goals of achieving academic success. Studying is an important facet of student life, but according to a survey of 450 Canadian employ-ers, students can expect to require more than good grades if they hope to be a competitive candi-date in today’s job market.

Soon-to-be graduates, in par-ticular those who are planning to make an immediate bid for em-ployment following the comple-tion of their degree, will ben-efit greatly from graduating as a well-rounded individual. The fifth annual report released by the Campus Recruitment of Career Educators and Employers outlines qualities students should put an emphasis on developing.

“Employers were asked to rank and order the importance of [characteristics], and [those] that we identified as being most valu-able included the ability to work well with others, work together in teams, the ability to communicate verbally, analytical or reasoning skills and work ethic,” Paul Smith, CRCEE executive director, said.

Economic realties, including overall wage decreases of five per cent, are difficult to circumvent as a Canadian graduate. Even so, emerging workers can further their chances for occupational success by engaging in activities that in-crease their appeal to potential employers.

“Get involved with groups, clubs, societies—particularly ones that might be related to your field of study. Be prepared to develop your personal network because […] I can guarantee it will help you 10 years down the road,” Smith advised.

—Lily Robinson

Andrei Calinescu Gazette

PROTESTING FURRIES. WesternCARES, a non-ratified Western group, staged an anti-fur protest by the corner of Western and Sarnia Roads yesterday, alerting students to the usage of coyotes in Canada Goose jackets.

Solution to puzzle on page 8

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thegazette • Wednesday, November 28, 2012 • 3

Critics say brand is essential in PSE market

western needs to find a nicheBoning in the UCC

The University Community Centre played host to the third annual Get Swabbed bone marrow donation campaign yesterday. The drive, staffed mostly by Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and Alpha Gamma Delta sorority volunteers, aimed to col-lect entries of students’ DNA into the worldwide bone marrow regis-try in the hopes of matching viable donors with patients in need.

According to Julia Grossman, one organizer of the event, West-ern’s student body has responded eagerly to the call for potential donors.

“It’s looking tremendous. We’re getting so much interest from all the students, and there’s just so much enthusiasm,” she said.

Research has shown males tend to make the best donors, in terms of both the outcome and sustain-ability of bone marrow transplants.

However, Grossman said she couldn’t bear to turn away females hoping to help.

“It’s hard to turn away the fe-males and so we’re not turning them away if they really want to do it. But we’re really looking for younger males of every ethnicity. The biggest groups where there are gaps, though, are Aboriginal Cana-dians and African Canadians.”

Western is only one of 25 uni-versities currently holding bone marrow drives this month.

Despite the overwhelmingly positive response from students, Grossman stressed there is still much work to be done to help ev-eryone in need.

“Right now, there are about 20 million people on this worldwide registry, but believe it or not, there are still 900 Canadians, right now, that can’t find a match.”

—Alex Carmona

News Brief

Julian Uzielli Gazette

Motion fights Fontanamegan devlinGazette staff

Ward 5 councillor Joni Baechler’s motion to ask London mayor Fon-tana to step down doesn’t look like it will be passed when put to a final vote at council in two weeks.

The main reason for the mo-tion’s now shaky fate is Ward 11 councillor Denise Brown. Brown switched her vote last minute in order to oppose the motion at Monday’s finance and administra-tive services committee meeting.

“I think [Brown was] a criti-cal vote. I knew it was going to be close, and now, with her having changed, there’s a strong possibil-ity it will fail at council,” Baechler said.

When asked why she switched her position on the motion, Brown explained she had received legal advice, which told her to vote against the motion since it wasn’t legally binding for the mayor.

“I received legal advice and that told me that this motion was not a legal motion, should not have even been accepted to be on the floor and that if it did make it to the floor, I should be voting against it,” Brown said. “ We have absolutely no power over whether Fontana steps down or not. [The motion

is] really symbolic and therefore a waste of our time.”

Baechler confirmed the motion was symbolic and not legally bind-ing, but she hoped it’s passing by council would cause Fontana to seriously consider the implications for London if he stays in office.

“I’m not pre-judging his inno-cence or guilt at all, but the charges have caused a great deal of dis-traction for the City of London,” Baechler said. “I’m suggesting that it’s in the best interest of the city that he would take a leave until the courts have dealt with the charges appropriately.”

“The mayor, under the munici-pal act, doesn’t have to vacate his office. It was simply expressing to him the concerns we are hearing,” Baechler said

Should the motion fail, Baechler said council would have no choice but to stick it out until the charges are resolved by the courts.

Though Brown still opposes the motion, she agreed the distraction surrounding the publicity of the mayor’s charges has been detri-mental for the city, and for council.

“We have a big budget coming forward and we need to spend our time on that, not on an issue that is being handled by the courts and the RCMP,” Brown said.

Zoe woodsGazette staff

It’s a dog-eat-dog world, especially when it comes to higher education.

The post-secondary education business has become increasingly competitive in Canada over the past decade, leaving many univer-sities struggling to survive.

“Canadian universities have [had to] become more competitive in student recruitment because of declining youth demographics, the enrollment-based government funding formulae and because of the growing consumerism among students and parents,” Ken Steele, co-founder of Academica Group Inc., explained.

In response, universities have begun to brand themselves—much like major corporations—in an ef-fort to differentiate themselves from the herd.

“An effective university brand needs to be credible to all stake-holders, compelling to key audi-ences and—most challenging for Canadian universities—competi-tively distinctive in the higher edu-

cation landscape. These are what I like to call the ‘3 Cs’ of branding,” Steele explained. “A good institu-tional brand sends a consistent, fo-cused message year after year.”

This may sound familiar to many Western students, who wit-nessed the major rebranding UWO, now Western Univeristy, under-went earlier this year. Streamlining Western’s image, most visible in the new Western logo, was a strategic move for marketing going forward.

“The rebrand was an oppor-tunity to stop and ask ourselves what elements of Western make it unique in terms of being able to be competitive with other universi-ties,” Terry Rice, director of market-ing and creative services at West-ern, explained. “I think, publicly, what people see of the rebranding is the logo, but the new brand for Western is a lot more than that.”

The new Western logo is meant to encapsulate the entire Western experience—one the administra-tion feels is second to none in the country, according to Rice.

“We used this as an opportu-nity to focus back on the things

that Western does best, and do a good job of telling those stories to prospective students, to students, alumni and to the public,” Rice elaborated.

According to Steele, an institu-tional brand should be more im-portant than mere marketing or slogans. It should reflect the vision, mission and aspirations of the in-stitution so it becomes the strat-egy behind a campus master plan, academic plan, strategic plan and budget.

“Western has always been one of my examples of an institution that took its positioning seriously, investing hundreds of millions in campus improvements to enhance the student experience over the long term,” Steele said.

“It’s super important to the uni-versity that our grads know that when they leave Western, they haven’t [truly] left Western. We want them to continue that Western ex-perience as alumni, taking advan-tage of lifelong learning, participat-ing in events and coming back to homecoming,” Rice concluded.

4 • thegazette • Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Arts&Life word of the dayVainglorious Adjective. Boastful, proud.

Mother Mother frontman talks songwriting and the band’s latest album

Building a house in the wildest thickets

Brent Holmesarts & Life editor

After little more than a year since the debut of their previous album, Eureka, Vancouver-based indie rockers Mother Mother return to London this week on tour with their new album, The Sticks. This new concept record goes “To the Wild” with a darker tone and a more fantasy-driven nature, which they hope to chase down into their upcoming show. The Gazette had the chance to talk with lead singer-songwriter, Ryan Guldemond.

GAZETTE: There was less of a gap between the release of Eureka and The Sticks than there was with your past albums—what did you find was motivating you to get back into writing songs?

GuldEmond: It was a good gust of creativity while touring Eureka. It made it easier to do the record in such a hasty fashion, because when we got back [from the tour], it was kind of all written. It wasn’t like we had to write the album post-touring—it just was all com-ing to fruition as soon as we re-leased Eureka.

GAZETTE: Your lyrics tend to fea-ture recurring motifs throughout each album. Is there a poetic ob-jective behind these repetitions?

GuldEmond: I think cohesion and continuity in something like the lyrical element of a batch of songs creates this sense that something profound is being talked about—

or something that has meaning, that has moving parts. So without being too purposeful or pre-med-itative with that kind of stuff, it is an effective poetic device to create these little moments of paraphrase and sometimes exact quotes.

GAZETTE: Your music involves a lot of very dynamic harmonies. How does the process for writ-ing that work in comparison with something where there’s only one vocalist?

GuldEmond: It’s pretty fun. It’s kind of a gift having those two [Molly Guldemond and Jasmin Parkin] in the mix and being able to write for that arrangement. It can be challenging as well, but it is a lovely challenge trying to find each of our grooves in a song. There is just so much you can do with mul-tiple singers, and then with the mix of boy/girl, just emotionally and the style of discourse and conver-sation the male perspective versus the female perspective. I think it is really quite human and societal just having that unisexual quality. That’s what songs are about—it’s about people and relationships and the sexes quite often. To have the ability to speak from both an-gles in the music is really quite a good thing.

GAZETTE: In a previous interview you mentioned that you write mostly on an acoustic guitar. How do you go about translating that to the electronic sound that your songs have?

GuldEmond: They’re both guitars, I love each of the characters. It’d be hard to leave one. Dynamics is like a ticket to life. Extreme dynam-ics is a beautiful thing. You could really savour something when it’s ripped away from you or when you are given the space for it to echo in your mind. That’s what I like about my favourite records is the dynam-ics—loud and quiet, happy and sad—these polarities work well to-gether they accentuate the mean-ing of their opposites by coexisting. It all becomes too melodramatic when a sad sounding song has a sad message.

GAZETTE: What can people expect from your upcoming show at the London Music Hall?

GuldEmond: Everything is just going to feel elevated. I know it is. We’ve invested a lot in our instru-ments and production value since that show [in 2011]. It’s going to be a sonic landscape and, visually, things are going to be elevated. They are bringing lights and props and being that this record is a con-cept record, you are really going to feel the essence of this album on the tour. We are going to make the whole thing look and feel like this album does—even though we are going to play old music. People are going to experience it in a fresh and new way.

GAZETTE: You’ve mentioned a de-sire to do live albums and concept albums in an interview after the re-lease of Eureka. Is The Sticks a kind of concept album?

GuldEmond: I want to do more concept records, even more re-fined, cohesive, lyrical expressions. I want the music to feel really di-verse. Just getting on this trip with The Sticks, I really want to just work harder and thoughtfully lyrically from here on out. I really want to

dig deep into the heart of a subject and write the best lyrics of my life subsequent to now.

Mother Mother will be playing London Music Hall tomorrow at 8 p.m. Tickets are $34.75 online.

fiLe photo

Sarah manningGazette staff

“Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” So said one of Dr. Seuess’s most no-torious characters. Although Seus-sical The Musical isn’t necessarily Christmas themed, or centred on the Grinch, it does provide the per-fect opportunity to step back from the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, errand-running and exam writing to get together with friends and family this holiday season.

Seussical The Musical is a sung-through musical. The entirety of the show runs to music. Musi-cal director and Western gradu-ate student Andrew Rethazi had his hands full. Rethazi has worked diligently to teach the music to the cast, to find and train the band and will be conducting the live music for the run of the show. What music can you expect to hear?

“It’s very eclectic,” Rethazi says. “There are some traditional Broad-way ballads, there’s also some fun—all kinds of different things that we would see in modern

Broadway.” Playing with themes of toler-

ance, imagination and community, Seussical The Musical follows the journey of Horton the Elephant as he discovers a community of Whos on a speck of dust. The production is speckled with visits from some of Dr Seuss’s most beloved charac-ters who highlight and extend the positive themes the show displays on stage.

Rethazi is not the play’s only tie to Western. There are many per-formers and musicians who are past and present Western students. Dance captain and assistant to the choreographer Dawn Gosney is a recent Western graduate who thinks Western students should see the musical.

“I felt like a lot of kids just stuck to their bubble in the Western com-munity. I think [the show] would be a really cool way for them to see what else there is in the city—if they’re interested in theatre—to get involved,” Gosney says.

Many people read Dr. Seuss books as a child, and therefore as-sociate anything Seuess as directed towards kids. Not the case, says Christie Menzo, a Western student

playing Mayzie La Bird.“There are so many quirky, sar-

castic and double-layered jokes in the show that I think students would really appreciate,” she notes. But really, with the stress of exams, would a show taking you back to your childhood be such a bad thing?

Musical Theatre Productions’ rendition of Seussical The Musical at Palace Theatre promises to be a show that can be enjoyed by all. Magical, energetic and inventive, Seussical The Musical is a holiday treat for kids and adults and every-one in between.

“There’s just so much for every-

one who comes,” Rethazi says. “No matter what age, no matter what background.”

Seussical The Musical will run at Palace Theatre from Thursday, November 29 until Sunday, Decem-ber 9. For showtimes and ticket in-formation visit palacetheatre.ca.

musical fun for all of those who come

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thegazette • Wednesday, November 28, 2012 • 5

manish JainCoNtributor

Performance GGGGHOpeners GGGGFSetlist GGGGHCrowd GGGGGWorth the $$ GGGGH

Last Thursday night, DJ Fedde Le Grand came to London and made local house enthusiasts put their hands up. The Dutch singer, who became famous for his 2006 sin-gle “Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit,” came to Centennial Hall—a re-freshing change from the London Music Hall. Though it has a dance floor roughly the same dimensions as the London Music Hall, Centen-nial Hall stands out for the notable additions of an extra high opera ceiling and the novelty of raving on hardwood flooring.

The night’s first performers, Loud Luxury, started off strong

and got the audience pumped for the official opening act. Fellow DJ dBerrie did a great job of building the crowd up, starting with softer electronic hits while mixing in some heavier beats. Towards the end of his set, dBerrie had moved into hard-hitting electronic sounds and had the crowd jumping in anticipation.

The crowd itself was much smaller than one would expect, but what the audience lacked in num-bers they made up for in attitude and energy. Le Grand was greeted with roaring applause and enthu-siasm was at an all-time high. The full light show and electronic dis-play behind Le Grand came to life and contributed to the hype of the show.

A large Dutch flag was unfurled by several members of the audi-ence who somehow managed to keep it up for most of the set. The Dutch star did not let this flag

and his country down, providing a great show that starting with his upbeat house hit “So Much Love,” alternatively adding heavy house.

Overall, the show ranged from periods of chest-pounding bass to moments where the entire crowd sang along to an electronic rendi-tion of Gotye’s “Somebody that I Used to Know.” As the show neared its end, Le Grand dropped a mix of “Metrum” and “Rattle,” a perfor-mance that was marked by three pillars of smoke shooting onto the audience.

Although he played a fantas-tic set, the end of the show was where Le Grand really shined. The DJ played off the crowd’s intense energy, staying well past 2 a.m. to conclude the show properly. The crowd left satisfied, now knowing that the London Music Hall isn’t the only place in town for a good electronic show.

The Dutch DJ gets London crowd excited

Hands go up for Le Grand

Logan Ly Gazette

Sumedha aryaarts & Life editor

GGGGHLife of Pidirector: Ang LeeStarring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan

Those who have read Yann Martel’s magic realist novel Life of Pi will be impressed by Ang Lee’s cinematic adaptation. Those who have not read the original tale will still enjoy this masterpiece for the way stun-ning imagery and fantastic displays of nature enhance Martel’s simple yet moving story.

On the surface, Life of Pi is about an Indian boy named after a French swimming pool who is shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean. However, teenage protagonist Piscine (Pi) Molitor Patel (Suraj Sharma) is not alone. Throughout his journey, he is accompanied by Richard Parker, a ferocious Bengal tiger.

From the film’s start, Lee creates a narrative with religious under-tones. The adult Patel (Irrfan Khan) tells the tale, recalling his story for a writer (Rafe Spall), asserting his story will make the writer believe in God.

The film’s original scenes in Pondicherry, India depict a rich tapestry of interwoven cultures, predicating Pi’s unmovable faith and his strength of character at sea. Sharma captures the essence of Patel well. As a young boy, he is spiritually mature—however, as a teenager, he is given reasons to re-

visit his beliefs. As one of the only human characters, he delivers his role well. Sharma’s character and his faith are continuously tor-mented by unforeseeable events, yet he displays an almost unbeliev-able hope.

The film’s greatest success is its depiction of the relationship be-tween Patel and Parker. Parker, a CGI creation, is a testament to how far cinematic technology has ad-vanced. The exceptionally realistic Bengal tiger is beguiling—he is fe-rocious and antagonizing to Patel, yet he is also Patel’s self-professed reason to live.

While sequence after sequence of Patel struggling to save both his life and the life of his tiger com-panion can seem redundant, Lee

makes each scene poignant, evok-ing a sense of wonder through phantasmagoric imagery that com-plements the film’s storytelling.

This film, true to the novel, fo-cuses on an unimaginable con-tradiction—two mammals—one clawless and vegetarian, the other carnivorous and without con-science—relying on each other. With great fidelity to Martel’s novel, Lee concludes Life of Pi by chal-lenging the audience to determine what is real and what is not.

While some may have expected Martel’s thought-provoking novel to have been ruined on screen, Lee proves otherwise with a mesmeriz-ing, multifaceted visual feast that is open to many interpretations.

adaptation takes the pi

fiLe photo

GGGGFBat for lashes The Haunted Man Parlophone

In 2006, Natasha Khan’s universally acclaimed album Fur and Gold was released under the stage name Bat for Lashes. Following the re-

lease of her second studio album, Two Suns, critics found themselves trapped by the sublimity and gran-deur of Khan’s voice.

The songs in The Haunted Man are true works of art. In the lead single “Laura,” Bat for Lashes takes its listeners on an emotional jour-ney into the life of a girl plagued with despondence and spuriously veiled with happiness. In “Lilies,” Khan puts on a cathartic perfor-mance about finding oneself in times of trouble.

Although occasionally hindered by brittle beats, needless trinkets and vague lyrics, The Haunted Man is the purest incarnation of Bat for Lashes yet. As contradictory as it is, The Haunted Man is impeccably detailed, yet fundamentally simple.

—Aleks Dalek

on disc

thegazetteVolume 106, Issue 48www.westerngazette.ca

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6 • thegazette • Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Opinions Every good act is charity. A man’s true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.

—Molière, French playwright

Charity not just an annual duty

Sumedha aryaarts & Life editor

While walking out of Costco, I passed by a Salvation Army volunteer ringing a tiny bell—encouraging shoppers to de-posit a few coins into his collection jar. Most people acted as if he was not there at all. If you don’t see someone, they’re not there, right?

I stopped, hunted in my purse for a couple of dollars, and deposited them into the jar. Clink. I gave the man—who was dressed in a sweater embla-zoned with reindeer—an embarrassed smile, acknowledging that my donation wasn’t much.

Immediately, I felt a little better. However, this feeling was quickly re-placed by shame and self-scrutiny.

Some loose change—would it really amount to any change?

It’s a dilemma that arises every holiday season. Individuals, perhaps moved by carols already blaring on mall speakers, are faced with ‘the spirit of giving.’

Do most people actually want to buy extravagant gifts for their boss’ niece’s dog? How much of the spirit of giving is really motivated by obligation? How much of this obligation stems from our desire to reciprocate gifts we haven’t even received yet?

It’s complicated—and it’s even more complicated when it comes to charities. I felt ashamed to give to the Salvation Army volunteer because the nature of this transient transaction was partially based on obligation and a salient exter-nal reminder. If an external manifesta-tion of the spirit of giving wasn’t in front of me in the form of a man in a reindeer sweater, would I have donated?

Perhaps not. Therefore, I don’t deny these prominent cues that enforce and reinforce the spirit of giving aren’t ef-

fective. Quite the contrary—it’s heart-warming to see people respond to com-munity needs by donating their time and money.

However, I do think that the tran-sient nature of these external remind-ers is problematic. What happens in the New Year? What happens when we’re all sick of listening to Michael Bublé’s lat-est Christmas album and patrons of a consumerist society rush to stores that reduce inflated prices on the pretense of having a sale?

We can’t be self-congratulatory based on an afternoon spent in a soup kitchen. We can’t feel immediate gratifi-cation for a couple coins deposited in a coin collection jar.

So what do we do? This holiday sea-son, instead of a brief volunteer stint and cheques given to local organiza-tions, we can all find a cause we care about and make a commitment to that cause. If, throughout the year, we con-tinue to give our time and/or money to that cause, then maybe we’ll have a rea-son to be proud.

Your anonymous letters to life.

dear Life, Is crappy transit a universal thing?

dear Life, the squirrels on campus are up to something, I can feel it in my bones. One stared into my soul yesterday as if to say “It’s our campus now, bitch.”

dear Life, Why can I stay awake for everything that isn’t studying?

Submit your letters to life at www.westerngazette.ca /dearlife.

TGIF loses meaning with

weekend examsIf you’ve ever wondered why none of your friends who go to different schools seem to complain about an overabundance of weekend exams, rest assured—it isn’t just you. It turns out Western is one of the only universities in Ontario that has its students write midterms and finals on both Saturday and Sunday. The University Students’ Council is currently in the process of lobbying for at least one day of the weekend to be designated off-limits.

While having a mandatory day off during exams is almost certainly a boon to students, there is something to be said about spreading exams over a longer period of time. One less day of viable exam slots could mean an even more crammed exam schedule come finals, or even during midterms, when the inevitable onslaught of quizzes, readings, presentations and seminars tends to make our weekends a moot point anyway. But considering there is no class during the final exam period, you could argue it doesn’t matter which day your exam is scheduled—most of us tend to lose track of the days of the week during that time, instead judging time in the number of days until our next exam.

There are, however, a number of good reasons why weekend exams can be inherently problematic. Students work part-time, and those are the jobs that tend to want weekend hours. Missing a shift because of a Saturday morning exam may be necessary, but that won’t necessarily make your manager any happier about it, nor will it make that rent payment due any later. And any student who has ever written a Sunday exam knows the stress of trying to catch one of the few buses scheduled by the London Transit Commission—saying nothing of the occasional Sunday bus that simply decides not to show up.

When it comes down to it, universities are a business, and businesses are beholden to their customers. So, thankfully, Western has expressed interest in working with the USC to fix the issue. It’s unlikely Western has any desire to become known as “that one school with all the weekend exams,” so despite all the work it will take to fit the exam schedule into a six-day framework—while keeping it manageable for students—it looks like the university doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Hopefully, then, students can look forward to having only half their weekends ruined.

—The Gazette Editorial Board

what’s Sumedha with you?

To the Editor:Re: Fate of new rugby field now in USC’s turf, November 27, 2012

I was unhappy to read that the uni-versity administration has once again asked the USC to increase student fees, this time to fund their plan for the rugby fields.

USC members should consider some facts as they approach this issue. First, tuition has already been increased to the maximum allowed by the provin-cial government every year for the past several years. This year’s increase alone was four per cent for domestic stu-dents and six per cent for international students.

Consequently, the university already has more money in their coffers and students less in our wallets. Beyond tu-ition, student fees have been increased twice in the past four years for con-struction projects on campus: renovat-ing the UCC and building the Western

Sports and Recreation Centre. In the case of the WSRC, students agreed to pay over $100 million over a 30-year pe-riod for the facility. How did that work out for us? The facility is already woe-fully insufficient to meet student de-mand, fees are now being charged for nearly 50 per cent of drop-in fitness classes, and varsity teams and aca-demic classes have begun to creep into a facility that was primarily intended for general community fitness.

As a student who voted in that refer-endum and uses the gym, I have to won-der what exactly I’m paying for as we get less and less, but are charged more and more. To that end, I would ask the USC to vote down this latest proposal. The administration has proven that they cannot be trusted when we enter into these agreements and, as students, we are financially over-extended enough.

—Arzie ChantBiology III

Letter to the Editor dear Life

#winThe Wii U has managed to do the impossible—create an online gaming community devoid of inappropriate content. Since the system is still relatively new, the public has yet to see if Nintendo’s censorship will be able to combat a full gaming population, but for now, the presence of fun over foaming preteen cursing is a welcome change.

#failChinese newspaper The People’s Daily may have jumped the gun a bit when they cited an article claiming North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un as the “Sexiest Man Alive for the Year 2012.” Sadly, the article was published by The Onion, best known for its 100 per cent output of satirical work.

turf wars on campus

thegazette • Wednesday, November 28, 2012 • 7

Sportsrundown >> The women’s hockey team will challenge the top-ranked Queen’s Gaels on Sunday December 2 > With a win, the Mustangs will improve their already im-pressive record to 12–3—leaving them just one game back of the OUA leaderboard.

saywhat?I’m not the Wayne Gretzky of MMA, but maybe the Joe Sakic.

>> Georges St. Pierre on his legacy

Oxland’s return provides spark to Western’s offence

mustangs split double-header against Lakehead

Jason Sinukoffsports editor

As the saying goes—if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

That is exactly what the Mus-tangs women’s volleyball team did when they challenged the Lake-head Thunderwolves this past Sunday for the second time in as many days.

The Mustangs and the last place Thunderwolves first squared off on Saturday. However, this match was anything but a walk in the park for the purple and white. Despite a hard-fought battle, they fell to their northern rivals in three straight sets—with scores of 24–26, 21–25 and 22–25.

Leading the Mustangs was veteran Stephanie Kreuter, who notched 11 kills and a game-high 13 points in the game.

“I was disappointed with our performance on the Saturday and the outcome. We had some very good individual efforts, but win-ning is a team thing,” Dave Ed-wards, Mustangs head coach, said.

According to Edwards, a main reason for the Mustangs’ loss on Saturday was that the squad forgot to do some simple things in the game and it led to them doubting themselves.

“I think it was a lot of errors of omission. We forgot to do things, and it became more of a mental game. They were starting to doubt themselves on what they could do, and what they couldn’t do, and so that, to me, was the biggest con-cern of that particular game,” Ed-wards explained.

Sunday, however, was a differ-ent story. After Saturday’s debacle, the Mustangs knew what they had to do to defeat Lakehead this time around.

“Going into Sunday’s match, we learned a great deal about ourselves. We just had to be more focused on the execution of our game plan and just executing basic fundamentals,” Edwards

said.On Sunday, the Mustangs also

welcomed back star player and captain, Rebecca Oxland. Oxland is ranked second in the Ontario University Athletics in points-per-game, and fourth for kills-per-game. Oxland proved why she deserves such high rankings on Sunday—powering the Mus-tangs to a 3–0 win in straight sets by posting 11 kills and 17.5 points in the game.

With Oxland in the lineup, the team seemed to play better and with more purpose.

“She was out for the Saturday game. But once she came back in the lineup, she gave a little bit more confidence to the team,” Ed-wards said.

“I mean, she is one of the top hitters in the country. That was a positive thing for us, and, as a re-

sult, we played a very, very solid match,” he continued.

With the weekend split, the Mustangs’ record currently sits at 5–4 with one game remaining in this first half of the season. The Mustangs will travel to Windsor to challenge the Lancers tonight at 6 p.m. With a win tonight, the Mus-tangs will be in a comfortable spot going into the second half of the season in January, and with their sights set on the final four, the Mustangs will need every win they can get.

“If we win our match against Windsor, we’ll be 6–4. Certainly, our goal is to get to the final four, but we will take each game as it comes. I remain quietly optimis-tic as we move forward. I am con-

fident with the players that we have,” Edwards said.

A win against the Lancers won’t come easy, as the Mustangs will have to neutralize their greatest threat on the court—Kaila Seguin.

“Windsor relies mainly on Kaila Seguin. She is a very good player. Offensively, she’ll get around 40 per cent of the sets,” Edwards said.

Edwards also mentioned that a key for the Mustangs will be to not get complacent with a lower-seeded team, like they did with Lakehead on Saturday, and re-spect their skills.

“We respect all of the oppo-sition we face, but we don’t fear them.”

Nyssa Kuwahar Gazette

Nyssa Kuwahar Gazette Naira Ahmed Gazette

Going into Sunday’s match, we learned a great deal about our-selves. We just had to be more focused on the execution of our game plan and just executing basic fundamentals.

—dave edwardsMustangs head coach

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8 • thegazette • Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Mike Yeung wins two divisions in a strong Western showingrichard raycraft

sports editor

For the first time in its history, Western’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pro-gram was host to the Ontario Sub-mission Wrestling Alliance no-gi round-robin tournament. Tak-ing place on Sunday afternoon in Alumni Hall, Western’s own Mike Yeung walked away with two med-als, having won his weight division and the absolute division.

“I feel great,” Yeung said after the tournament. “I think my strength was to go hard right off the bat and try to finish every match in under two minutes, and that way I could save my strength for the other matches.”

Yeung’s winning performance was supplemented with strong showings from a number of other Mustangs, including some second place finishes.

“Overall, I was happy,” Vivek Nath, instructor of Western’s Bra-zilian Jiu-Jitsu club, said. “There’s some stuff to work on, but a lot of people achieved the goals that they set out to.”

Matches took place across four divisions separated by weight. The tournament format was round-robin, meaning competitors had a chance to fight everyone in their weight class. Three Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu clubs competed in the tour-nament, and Western had repre-sentatives in every division.

In the 145-pound and below di-vision, Cody Brown of Gracie Barra London was first place, show-

ing off some sleek submissions to earn the victory. Western Jiu-Jitsu’s Jordan Arding took second place, having fought through some tough battles. Arding lost to Brown by armbar in an exciting back-and-forth contest.

Brian Park, also from Western Jiu-Jitsu, took second place in the 155-pound division. Park won two

of his four matches, with one of his victories coming off of a quick armbar that caught his opponent by surprise.

Yeung won the 185-pound divi-sion by submitting every opponent that he faced. Yeung had a great deal of success controlling his op-ponents from top position, pa-tiently waiting for opportunities to

snatch up a finishing lock or hold.“Excellent,” Nath said of Yeung’s

performance. “He took his time, he worked his strategy, he took chances when necessary and he controlled when he needed to.”

The heaviest division featured competitors weighing in at 186 pounds and above. Djordje Ro-manic, a newcomer to Western’s

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu program, took second place in the weight class. Romanic—who has experience in judo—utilized throws and trips to get his opponents to the floor. In a competitive match against the heaviest participant, Romanic managed to pull off an armlock for the victory. The win put Romanic in second place in the tourna-ment’s toughest division, missing first place by a single point.

The tournament also featured an absolute division, which com-petitors from any weight class could enter. Western Jiu-Jitsu swept the top three places in the division with Yeung winning first place. He was followed by Drew Nutbrown in second and Romanic in third.

“The toughest match I had was against the guy who was a weight category above me because he was really, really strong,” Yeung said. “Even when I had a full armbar on him I had to use both my feet just to break his handgrip.”

Yeung met Nutbrown in the ab-solute division finals, quickly lock-ing in a guillotine choke in the first minute of the match to achieve victory.

“There’s a Grappler’s Quest tournament coming up—maybe I’ll enter into that, but I’m not sure yet,” Yeung said of his future.

Grappler’s Quest North Ameri-can Championships will come to London and be held at the Western Fairgrounds on December 1.

mustangs mop up miraculously on the mats

Courtesy of Malcolm Lau